Open: Gate to your heart!
by furubasuta.roronoa
Summary: WARNING: This fanfic contains heavy GraLu. If you do not ship it, then do not read it. GraLu isn't my favorite pairing, but I felt like writing a story about it so here it is ! Also contains traces of GaLe, NaLu, Gruvia, and maybe a little GrayxCana. You may read at your own risk.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi hi~ Hope you enjoy chapter one of my GraLu fanfic and, don't worry, it gets more complicated as the chapters pass ;)**

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The sound of a girl humming a peaceful tone was bouncing off the walls of the room. Lucy Heartfillia, once-heiress, celestial spirit and owner of ten of the twelve zodiac keys, was squeezing and drying her healthy blond hair with a clean white towel. Though it wasn't the warm time of year yet, Lucy walked around the house with just a big bright yellow towel on her body. Her bare feet shivered of the cold every time each of them touched the ground, but she couldn't help it. She loved walking around bare-footed.

If one of the helpers on the Heartfillia plantation saw her walk around with bare feet, they would've surely scolded her, but with a more caring than serious tone, she thought. She really missed them, their sweet smiles and their praising words. But, she surely didn't miss the days when she was ignored and scolded by her father, Jude Heartfillia. Even though now she knew that he cared about her all along, she couldn't bring herself to forget what he did to her, treating her so badly.  
She let out a relieving sigh. Why was she bothering her head with such things? That was in the past, and she needed to live in the present and think about the future. She pulled out a hair band and a ribbon from a big plastic bag, tying it around a part of her hair and combing it rapidly.  
She had to look good. Because, how could she show herself in front of him if she wasn't well prepared and messy. And, why didn't he notice her? Was she ugly? Far from that, she was really a beauty among beauties, but maybe he just saw her as a friend and nothing less? '_Again with the stupid thoughts'_, she thought to herself. Locking the door behind her, she quickly left the building and took her usual path to the guild on the edge of the river.

"Lucy, watch out!" a few friendly warnings here and there from the men in the little boat.

"I'll be alright!" the celestial mage, followed by her friend, Plue, was getting closer to the guild. When she reached her destination, there was already a fight started between, none other than, Gray and Natsu. '_Such good friends'_, Lucy sighed.

"Oi, Luce! Good mornin'!" the fire dragon slayer noticed her first, much to her disliking. Not that she didn't like Natsu, far from that, but she would rather be greeted by him than by Natsu. '_You're being a bit harsh,'_ she scolded herself, '_there are other people around him too. Who says he has to only notice you?'_

"Morning, Natsu!" her face lighted up in a friendly smile.

"Where've you been? It's not the same without you, you know" finally, the one she waited to notice her, said something, and she couldn't help but melt from hearing his delightful voice. That Gray, why did he have to be so dreamy? And why didn't he realize her feelings for him? Surely even an idiot like him knows what love is.

"Ah well, I took my time to relax in my apartment this morning" she looked at his dark eyes before looking in Levy's direction "Levy-chan!"

"Nice to see you, Lu-chan!" the small solid script mage replied to her best friend.

"I see things are being lively as usual."

"Well, it isn't Fairy Tail if nobody's fighting."

"Haha, I guess you're right."

"So... did anything happen? Something I'd like to know?" Levy narrowed her eyes.

"Like hell _that_ would happen. He just sees me as a friend and nothing more."

"Don't think that!"

"Ah, well... I've gotten over it. Speaking of boys... How's it going with Gajeel?" Lucy whispered the last part.

"Shh! He can hear you, you know...! And he still thinks of me as a 'little shrimp he has to save from trouble'."

Lucy secretly smirked, looking behind Levy's back and catching the Dragon Slayer staring "I don't think so...hihi." she pointed at him, because of which Levy turned around. Gajeel blushed _(can a guy like him blush?) _and turned towards Lily, starting another argument.

"_Sigh..._I don't know what to think." Levy turned back at Lucy, who was just about to burst out of excitement.

"Kyaa~ Levy-chan! He llllllikes you~" Lucy rolled her tongue like a very well known Blue Exceed.

"Umm... err... ahh... wha... I... no it's... umm..." The tiny mage was tripping over her words.

"Ooh~ Levy and Gajeel sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Lucy! Quiet!" Levy demanded.

"Gomen, Levy-chan. It' just... kyaa~"

"Please don't..."

"You two are such a cute couple!"

"Shush, Lucy!"

"Oi, what are you talking about?" Gray approached the two girls, making Lucy blush.

"Err..." she was staring at him blankly "Nothing important."

"Hmm... Anyway, let's go on a job, Lucy!" He suggested.

Levy's look for Lucy had 'Ooh! Lu-chan~' written all over it. Lucy quickly replied with rolling her eyes.

"Sure! Do you have a job picked out?"

"Yeah, this one" he showed her a flyer with a picture of two men and 200.000 Jewels written under it.

"They're wanted criminals..." Lucy raised her head from the flyer "Seems fun, if the others do the fighting."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you... there are no others. Just you and me. So, you accept?"

_'Ohmygodohmygodohmygod IS THIS FOR REAL?! Kyaa~ of course of course of course!' _Lucy mind-screamed. "Why not...?"

"Great! But, you'll have to fight as well."

"Umm... fine..."

"We leave tomorrow at noon from the guild, okay?"

"Okay."

Gray smirked and exited the guild with his hands in his pockets.

"... what just happened...?" Lucy was still in a trance.

"Aaah Lu-chan! How romantic~"

"Did I just accept...?"

"Yes~"

"No..."

"Yes you did~"

"But... why did I...? Why didn't you stop me? Argh! What'll I do?!"

"You'll go with Gray on the job. It'll make him feel bad if you turn him down after accepting."

"Umm... okay... But, what'll I do? I'll totally blank out if I spend an entire day with him... and it's just the two of us!"

"What's going on?" Lucy was too loud, causing Erza to approach their table and find out why she was screaming.

"Aaah... Erza... I... it's... mission... wanted... me and... going... noon... weird..." Lucy mumbled.

"Lucy," Levy snapped her fingers "are you okay?"

"Umm, I... yes, I'm fine. It's nothing, Erza. Really."

"I heard that you're going on a job with Gray."

_'Eek! What now?! If Erza knows, it's definitely not good... What'll I do?! Wait. Calm down. Breathe. It's just a job, nothing more. Why are you so excited? He didn't ask you out or anything...Now, be calm.' _she scolded herself. "Yeah. We're asked to catch some wanted criminals. The reward is 200.000 Jewels~"

"Well, good luck on the job. Hope you get back safely."

"Thanks, Erza!" the Requip Mage nodded and returned to what she was doing before... eating cake.

"Phew... That went better than expected." Lucy sighed with relief.

"Don't get too carried away. I think he likes you too, but..."

"But what...?"

"Don't let him... do something the both of you will regret later."

"...Of course not. I wouldn't even think of that. Besides, it's just a job. Two mages from the same guild going on a job together. Nothing more."

"Remember what I told you, okay? He's a guy. It's how their brain works. Don't let-"

"Okay Levy. I get it." Lucy was feeling uncomfortable.

"If you understand, then there's nothing else I want to say."

"Thanks for caring, Levy-chan, but I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself."

"Of course."

The sun went down and rose again. It was on the highest spot of the sky, which meant noon.

"Oi, Lucy!" the Celestial Sprit Mage was standing in front of the guild's door when she heard a familiar male voice.

"Gray!" she waved at him "Let's go. The train leaves in one hour from the station. We'll miss it if we don't hurry."

"Let's go, then." he turned the opposite way, carrying a backpack on his left shoulder. Lucy had brought a small suitcase which she carried in her right hand. The time to reach Oshibana Town was 24 hours, counting the ten hour wait for another train at Onibus Station.

They walked for a good two to three hours before reaching Magnolia Station.

"Train number 12 at gate 3, heading for Onibus. All passengers aboard." A female voice came from the sound lacrima.

"That's our train! Come on, Gray!" Lucy ran, pushing the people out of her way. Gray went after her and they were just in time to catch the train.

"Phew... we made it." Lucy sighed, putting her suitcase on the shelve above their seats.

"How long will it take to reach Onibus?" Gray sat on the cushioned seat.

"Five to six hours." Lucy sat next to him, leaning her head on the glass of the window.

"Wake me when we get there."

"Sure thing." Lucy said, watching him turn the other way and falling asleep.

"Sigh..."_'This is going to be a long trip. Good thing I brought along__ the book Levy gave me_.' She opened the book on the page which edge was folded and continued to read it. It was a romantic novel, about a boy that lost his memory and doesn't remember anything. The girl that loved him is sad because he doesn't know who she is, and she's unaware that he has amnesia, so she starts cutting herself. _'Typical modern teenage novel' _Lucy thought, finishing page 48 out of 264. _'I wonder when he'll wake up...' _she took a peek over her book to look at Gray, who was sleeping soundly.

A lady dressed in a white dress and a dark blue apron gave Lucy two sandwiches, a pot of tea and a bottle of water.

"Arigatto!" Lucy thanked her, taking the tray and putting it on the small table that was screwed to the floorboards.

"Welcome! If you need anything, call Jennifer. Have a nice trip!" the lady smiled and continued dealing the food and drinks.

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**Yahoo~ Finished chapter one! And, I might not post the second in a while, since I'm missing my computer at the moment and am writing this on my mom's laptop. Review and Lucy will give you a picture of Gray sleeping!**


	2. Chapter 2

***growl***** I have to study for my history exam tomorrow, and I'm doing THIS?! Oh well, a D isn't a bad grade...*sob***

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"Gray…" Lucy nudged "Wake up, we're here."

"Hmm…What…? We're here…?"

"Yes. Now get up and let's go find the hotel."

Gray yawned, stretching his hands and grabbed his and Lucy's luggage, stepping off the train.

"So…where's the hotel?"

"It's in the Town Center, so we should head this way." Lucy pointed to a gravel path that led to a big round fountain.

They walked quietly down the road until they finally reached the fountain. Gray decided to have some fun while in Onibus, so he dropped the luggage on the ground and lifted Lucy in his arms.

"Gray! What the hell are you doing?!" Lucy shrieked.

"It's summer, isn't it?" he looked at her mischievously before throwing her in the fountain.

"Kyaa-"

_SPLASH_

Lucy surfaced and gasped for some air. The fountain was pretty deep, about two meters.

"GRAY YOU JERK WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" He laughed at her, so she pulled him in the water as well. Now they were both soaked. Splendid.

"Now we're even." Lucy giggled. Gray smiled at her and she blushed subconsciously.

"Umm…" she was staring at his eyes and the little streak of wet hair that was stuck on his forehead.

He then grabbed her waist and kissed her on the lips. She felt stunned for a second, didn't know what to do, but then relaxed and put her hands on his lower back.

Gray pushed her underwater and they made out where no one, except a few goldfish here and there, could see them. She felt him kissing her neck, but didn't dare to open her eyes because she was enjoying the moment all too much.

After half a minute of underwater kissing, they got out of the fountain and started asking citizens where the hotel was. One was helpful enough to tell them the path and the name of the receptionist. Later on they found out the guy was the receptionist himself.

As they walked to the hotel, Lucy didn't say a thing, so he thought that kissing her right off the bat wasn't such a great idea. But, he had to do it! Do you know that feeling when you see your crush and think 'I'm gonna kiss them today' but never end up doing it? Well, the difference was that he did it.

"Umm...Lucy...? You alright...?"

"Umm, yeah...I'm fine..."

"Listen... about what happened..."

"No... It's okay..."

"I really like you, Lucy. I always have. Since Natsu brought you to Fairy Tail. But only now I had the guts to confess."

"Well, I've liked you too for some time now..." That was a relief. She liked him too? Good, cause it would be one awkward experience to have to do a job with a girl that you kissed underwater forcibly and she didn't like you back. And to see her everyday in the guild...? Damn that would be weird.

"So... will you be my girlfriend...?"

"Yeah~! Finally I know what you feel for me!"

"Well you could've said something before."

"But, it just felt awkward to come up to you and tell you that I love you."

"So... we're boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

"I guess... boyfriend." She chuckled and kissed him on the cheek.

The room deal was settled, but there was one small problem. They were out of rooms so they had to sleep in the same one._ 'As long as nothing bad happens, then it's fine by me.' _Lucy thought. Of course, she liked… no, loved, Gray, but she didn't want to do something they would both regret later. So she had to be especially careful with them both in the same room. _'Come on, he isn't like that.'_ She shrugged off the thought.

After the lunch, they returned to the room and Lucy said she's going to take a shower. Gray was soundly sleeping when she entered the bathroom.

Lucy turned on the shower and got in the tub. She left the water to run down her naked body as she was putting the shampoo on her hands and started shampooing her hair. She rinsed the hair and continued washing the body.

She exited the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around her body to find that Gray had left the room. _'I can dress in peace now.' _She sighed. She put on some comfortable clothes and left the room, locking the door behind her.

"Hey, babe, –hiccup- wanna have some fun with me?" she went out for a walk and some drunk ass met her on the way.

"As if." She quickly denied.

"Why not, babe?" He closed in on her face. He reeked of alcohol like any other drunkard does.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" she pulled out the golden celestial key and called out the perverted cow.

"Luuuuuuucy~! You have a nice body, as usual~" he cooed.

"Not now, Taurus. Right now you need to save me from this jerk!"

Taurus pulled out his axe, and the drunk ran as far as he could from the sight of it.

"Now, reward me by showing that nice bo-"

"Back, Taurus." She closed the gate and continued her walk.

'_I wonder if Gray's back by now…' _she decided to go back to the hotel.

Little that Lucy and Gray knew, a certain blue-haired girl followed 'her lovely Gray-sama' and was now hiding behind a palm tree. She was chewing a bush left to her _'Juvia will make her pay!' _she bit off a piece of wood stalk.

Gray was in a bar not so far away and was talking, scratch that, convincing, a drunk girl to go back to Magnolia.

"Hiccup- no way, I like it here –hiccup- so much booze –hiccup"

"Cana, for the last time, get on the train to Magnolia or I'll put you on it myself!"

"Why should I listen to you, –hiccup- huh? I wanna be here. And –hiccup- I wanna be here with you. Understand that, Gray? –Hiccup- I love you."

'_ANOTHER RIVAL! JUVIA IS ANGRY!' _

"You're drunk, Cana. You're talking nonsense. At least go and sleep somewhere."

"How about –hiccup- next to you?"

_CHOMP-CHOMP-CHOMP_

"That's it." He grabbed her by the waist and put her over his shoulder. He carried her to the train station and put her on board, paid for the trip and left her a note for when she woke up, since she fell asleep while he was carrying her.

"Finally, that's over…" he voiced his thoughts. There was no one around cause it was 2 AM, so he could speak freely. "I wonder what kind of punishment she'll get from the Master…"

He arrived at the room and saw Lucy asleep on the bed. She was waiting for him, he thought, since she wasn't in her pajamas. _'What now? There's only one bed… I'm not gonna wake her, so I'll sleep on the ground.' _He took off his pants and fell asleep in his underwear.

The next morning after breakfast, they were supposed to leave for Oshibana.

"What?" they were both at the station "What do you mean no trains yet?"

"There was a train robbery last night and the train that was supposed to take you to Okohana was heavily damaged. Please understand, it will take one day to send another one."

"We'll be here for another day?"

"Yes, madam, I'm terribly sorry."

"Kuso." Gray cursed "How are we gonna tell the mayor we can't get there?"

"Well, we can help you with that. We have a messenger boy, who can send telepathic messages to the nearby town folks."

"Where is he?"

"I'll call him right away." The man left and returned with a young lad with blond hair.

"Here he is. He'll contact the mayor of Oshibana and then he'll let you say what you want to him."

"Arigatto." Lucy thanked the man.

"_Yes? Who is this?" _a telepathic message was sent to Gray and the young boy.

"_This is one of the mages that accepted your job, mayor. We're from Fairy Tail and we'll be one day late because of some difficulties with the transportation."_

"_I understand. Hope you're safe."_

The connection ended and Gray said what he wanted to say.

"I told him and he said it's okay." He faced Lucy.

"Good. Now, let's look around the town!"

"Sure."

They spent the entire day together, walking hand in hand. Gray bought her cotton candy and lemonade from the fair. They rode the Ferris wheel and fed peanuts to the baby elephants.

The other part of the day they spent in the bar that Cana confessed to Gray in, but he didn't tell Lucy what happened.

They both partied hard and drank to their heart's content. A few guys were hitting on Lucy and Gray punched each of them in the face, each time referring to Lucy as 'his girl'. It was sure a fun night. And it changed their lives forever. It's just that they didn't know it yet.

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**Gray sure is a cute boyfriend, ne? And I'm not really sure where Juvia went for the night. Maybe she found a guy for her own, hmm? ;) A review would be pretty sweet, just sayin'. **


	3. Chapter 3

Neither one of them remembered what happened last night. They both woke up with a slight memory loss and a headache.

Gray found himself sleeping on the floor and Lucy on the bed. Naked. He blushed and quickly covered her with the blanket that was in a pile next to her feet.

'What… am I doing on the floor…?' he scratched his cheek and noticed how much his head hurt. 'And what's with this headache? What happened last night…?' He went in the bathroom and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had cuts all over his face and… a right black eye. "Kuso…" he cursed and splashed water on his face. His hair was greasy and strands of it fell on his forehead, while some pointed outwards.

In the meanwhile Lucy woke up with the same bad headache and minor memory loss. 'What happened…?' "Aah!" she shrieked when noticing her naked body under the covers. 'Why am I naked?! Where's Gray? I don't remember a thing from last night… all I know is that we partied in that bar… Could it be a hangover…?' She thought and put on her clothes that were hanging on a door knob. She stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom and started fixing her hair, trying to stop the bad thoughts that were flowing through her aching head.

Gray got out of the bathroom and walked in on Lucy staring at a pimple oh her cheek.

"What are you doing…?"

"Ah. Nothing. Good morning." Lucy turned her back to the reflection and smiled at him, even if the pain that the headache was causing was no smiling matter.

"Mornin'…" He hugged her from behind and kissed her on the shoulder.

"Are we leaving today?"

"Guess so. Let's pack up and head for the station."

"What about breakfast?"

"We'll eat on the train."

"Whatever you say, babe." She snickered and kissed him on the cheek. She pulled out the bag from under the bed and re-checked if everything is in place after finally closing it and pulling the zipper.

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"Are you ready?" Gray didn't carry much clothes. He rarely wore clothes to begin with.

"Ready~" Lucy said and took a last look at the apartment before locking the door and handing the key to one of the maids that was passing through the rooms to put new towels.

* * *

"Good morning to you both. Again, we're really sorry that you're one day late for your job in Oshibana." The man that informed them about the train robbery yesterday greeted them in the station.

"Well, it wasn't your fault. And I'm sure one day wouldn't change that much."

"Thank you for understanding. The train to Oshibana is over there and will be leaving in 10 minutes."

"Good. Come on, Lucy."

"Right. Thank you~" She waved at the man, who wished them a safe ride and offered them to come by another time.

"We will~ We'll be passing by here again in a few days anyway. Maybe we'll stay a day."

"That's good to hear. My name is Toga, you can find me anywhere in this town."

"I'm Lucy~"

"Gray. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands and the Fairy Tail mage took the luggage and carried it on the train. Lucy followed him and sat in the seat under the shelf where Gray put the bags.

"How long until Oshibana?" Gray stretched his arms above his head in the seat next to Lucy.

"Eight hours, if there aren't any problems."

"Let's hope. You should get some rest babe, you look tired."

"I'm fine. I want to finish this book Levy gave me."

He took the book from her hands and put it over his head, on the shelf under the bags. "You can read another time. Now sleep."

"Tch." She turned her head towards the window and he pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"I'm sorry…?" He smirked and raised his eyebrow.

"Apology accepted~" She snickered and kissed him on the nose before falling asleep on the seat.

* * *

Gray stared through the window at the passing scenery with random thought through his mind, without focusing on either one of them, while at moments taking a look at the girl that was sleeping soundly next to him and that he loved so much.

The other passengers were talking, reading, eating, sleeping… so the entire train, or at least the car they were in. Gray's eyes were getting heavier and he was about to fall asleep, when a sudden shriek from the neighboring car startled him and forced him to run and see what was going on.

"Huh…? Gray, what is it…? Where are you going?" Lucy woke up from the racket that the passengers were causing.

"Don't worry, I'll be back. Just going to check something." He opened the door of the car and jumped over the opening and onto the other, now standing in front of another door.

He opened the door and saw a group of bandits robbing the scared passengers, and one of them was even holding a gun at a woman's head, threatening them that if they don't cooperate, the woman will be killed.

"Who are you?!" A bandit that was emptying a purse noticed Gray coming in.

"What are you doing to the woman?! Leave her at once!" Gray said and with his Ice Make magic froze the bandits to the ground.

"Shit, boss! He's from Fairy Tail! We gotta run for it!"

"Men, leave the train!" The man that held the woman hostage let her go and with some kind of wooden block broke the ice and fled, along with the rest of the bandits.

"Oi, you! Stop right there!" Gray yelled at the bandits and with his 'Ice make lances' managed to hit a few of them, but it wasn't enough to stop them. "Kuso… they looked familiar, too." He helped the frightened woman get up and get back in her seat. "Are you alright, miss? Don't panic, the bandits are gone now."

"Y-You saved me… thank you. I can never repay you…"

"Think nothing of it. Of course I'd help, that's what Fairy Tail mages do." He grinned "Does anyone know who these bandits were?"

"I think the two that did the talking are the leaders, there's even a bounty on their heads. The others are just underlings. I can't remember their names, though."

"Do you know how high the bounty is? My partner and I were sent from Magnolia to catch two criminals with the bounty of 200.000 jewels."

"Those were your targets, then."

"Dammit! I didn't catch them. Well, thanks." He said and got back in his car, next to Lucy.

"What happened? What did you do in there? And what were those screams?!"

"The bandits we're supposed to catch…"

"…?"

"… are train robbers."

"They were here?!"

"Yeah, but I let them escape… Idiot."

"It's not your fault. At least you rushed in to check what's going on. That's pretty noble." She said and kissed him on the cheek as a reward.

"I guess, but they also have underlings. And the two leaders somehow look familiar. Not from the poster, but from somewhere else. Can't really put my finger on it…"

"We'll know when we reach Oshibana. It does have the biggest train stations, so it's only logical they would attack there most. Now try not to think about it, okay?" She winked at him and then asked for her book back. Unwilling to say no, he took the book from the shelf and passed it to her. Only more staring at passing trees and mountains awaited him on this trip.

But, anything can happen in eight hours, right?

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**There you go~ This chapter is shorter than the other two, but I'm too lazy to write and I have to study math for my competition in Veles this Saturday. It's haaaaaaaaaaard~~~  
See ya~**


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